I. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to digital signal processors and devices that use such processors. More particularly, the disclosure relates to the execution of multiple program threads by a digital signal processor register.
II. Description of Related Art
Advances in technology have resulted in smaller and more powerful personal computing devices. For example, there currently exist a variety of portable personal computing devices, including wireless computing devices, such as portable wireless telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and paging devices that are small, lightweight, and easily carried by users. More specifically, portable wireless telephones, such as cellular telephones and IP telephones, can communicate voice and data packets over wireless networks. Further, many such wireless telephones include other types of devices that are incorporated therein. For example, a wireless telephone can also include a digital still camera, a digital video camera, a digital recorder, and an audio file player. Also, such wireless telephones can include a web interface that can be used to access the Internet. As such, these wireless telephones include significant computing capabilities.
Typically, as these devices become powerful, programmers may want to develop programs that are increasingly complex, e.g., for video decoding. As programs become increasingly complex, it may be necessary to write parallel programs across two or more threads. However, using multiple threads in an active mode can impact the amount of power and overhead required by the microprocessor.
Accordingly it would be advantageous to provide an improved method of controlling multiple program threads within a multi-threaded processor.